By Andrei Berman
For D3hoops.com

The Washington University women's basketball team will likely complete its national semifinal game against Amherst in Holland, Mich., at around 6 p.m. Friday evening.

A little less than 700 miles away, in Salem, Va., the Washington University men's team will probably be entering second half play in its own national semifinal game against Guilford.

It's probable that, regardless of their own outcome, the Lady Bears will huddle around a computer screen somewhere on the campus of Hope College, the 2009 site of the women's Final Four. Cell phones in hand, text messaging fingers at the ready, the team will anxiously watch as the ‘other' Wash U. team seeks to close out its own semifinal opponent and continue its run at a second-straight national title.

And it's a safe bet that, regardless of the intensity of his own contest, Wash U's veteran men's coach, Mark Edwards, will briefly crack a revealing facial expression while pacing the sidelines of the Salem Civic Center. Edwards surely hopes that expression will come in the form of a smile, evidence that his close friend and colleague, Wash U's women's coach Nancy Fahey, has moved her team onto the championship game. 

In many ways, the friendship and mutual admiration between the two veteran Wash U. basketball coaches as well as the subsequent bond shared between their two teams came about as a result of a peculiar set of circumstances. Fahey's arrival to St. Louis in 1987 happened to coincide with the inaugural season of the geographically diverse University Athletic Association. 

The creation of the conference stemmed from the desire to form a competitive athletic league of nationally respected academic powerhouses. That goal was accomplished and the eight member schools have combined to send six teams to the national semifinals in the past two decades, with the duo of Edwards and Fahey alone combining for a fistful of national championship rings with a legitimate chance of adding two more this weekend.

But perhaps more than any school in the country, at any level of collegiate basketball, the five banners (four for the women, one for the men) that hang in the Washington University Field House are genuinely the result of a collaborative effort between two coaches and the players they have mentored over the last two-plus decades. 

Due to the vast distances in mileage between schools in the multi-regional conference, member schools play host to male-female double headers each Friday evening and Sunday morning during the grueling, NBA-like conference slate. As a result of traversing the eastern half of the USA on what all-conference forward Tyler Nading likens to "four-day retreats with a bunch of kids," the Bears and Lady Bears grow highly familiar with their partner squad both and off the court throughout each season. 

Among the most gratifying aspects of Edwards' and Fahey's relationship has been the ways in which the two squads have continually come together during each of the last 23 seasons. According to the players and coaches alike, that bond has only been improved by the recent success of each program. "It really is like one program with two divisions," says Edwards of the team's unique relationship with its women's team. 

"It's a genuinely true and caring relationship between the two teams," says Fahey. "We travel and play games on the road where we're in gyms where we're the only ones supporting each other. We understand what each program goes through and I think it trickles down to our players."

"I think what makes the relationship between our two teams so unique and special is that we have similar goals and we support the other team in their pursuit of that goal. We are their No. 1 fans and they are ours," said Halsey Ward, a guard on the women's team.

The tremendous success of both teams in 2008-2009 made those road trips easier to enjoy. Between the two teams, only one road game was lost this season and overall, the squads combined to tally 52 wins against a mere six losses.

"Having two winning programs generates such a positive attitude. It is a lot easier to fly back home from an east coast trip when two teams are happy, said Jamie McFarlin, who starts at forward for the women's team.

Still, some team members report a more practical reason for supporting their travel mates. "I find myself pulling for the women's team not only because I want them to win, but because the flights and bus rides are brutal when they lose," notes junior and UAA Player of the Year, Aaron Thompson.

Indeed, the unique relationship between the two squads has only been improved by the shared on-court success. Edwards and Fahey each guide programs that are widely considered to be among the nation's perennial D-III powers. Fahey led the Lady Bears to a string of four consecutive national titles from 1998-2001. Edwards is looking to lead his squad to its second straight title, with this year's team having reached Salem in each of the last three seasons. 

"It [the relationship between teams] has definitely been strengthened. The senior class has been to 5 final fours combined and I think we can relate to each other with the high expectations that come with the territory," said senior and All-American point guard Sean Wallis. 

"A lot of times some of the women's players can vent to us when things aren't going well and we obviously do the same. It's nice to have other people that understand your situation that aren't on your team that you can talk to," he added.

Nothing, of course, would make Edwards or Fahey -- and the players they lead -- happier than a final four weekend that results in two more titles. The two coaches and their top assistants have offices within feet of one another and regularly talk X's and O's. They will both be doing a healthy amount of scoreboard watching come Friday.

Yet the connectedness of the two squads and their coaches is one which extends far beyond victories and championship banners. When not formally competing against same-sex competition, select members of the teams have even been known to turn their camaraderie into a bit of healthy competition, H-O-R-S-E style. And, true to form for a group of collegians whose relationship sometimes borders on the familial, more than one interviewee was able to vividly paint a picture of the well-known shooting games between Thompson and his counter sharpshooter on the ladies side, the senior Ward. 

Though Thompson made it a point to note that his field goal percentage was higher than Ward's, he conceded that in H-O-R-S-E, Ward had his number.

"I'd love to say that I have her in that category as well, but she just kicks my butt. She can flat out shoot the rock and the only chance I ever have at beating her is when I shoot out of her range. We decided that in our game of H-O-R-S-E we could only shoot three's and of the 11 games that I won, in all 11 of them I had to shoot about 80% on 25-footers to even have a chance.

Jill Brandt, a senior and one of six Lady Bears averaging between seven and nine points, struck a similar tone when describing the oft-times sophomoric off-court antics of the men's team.

She likened the men's team to the role of male siblings: "Brothers can be annoying, but for the most part they are just a lot of fun and always extremely supportive. We have a blast at dinners, hanging out in airports, and cheering each other on. Traveling is definitely not the same without them! Throughout the tournament, there is an endless stream of texts and calls saying good luck and congratulations."

"It's so awesome after we've won to look at my phone and see congratulatory text messages from Sean, A.T. and Ty," added Ward.

That sense of support and closeness will again be on display this weekend, but unlike last year, the ladies won't be there in person. After missing out on what would have been a return trip to the women's final four last season, almost every member of the 2007-08 women's roster made the 13-hour bus ride to Salem to support their male counterparts.

Not being at the actual games won't stop the teams from keeping close tabs on each other, however.

"As soon as our buzzer sounds, the first thing I'm going to think about is how the boys are doing," said Brandt.